Selecting a prototype railroad

New scale new prototype. I have started my journey to north american railroads with a lot inspiration from Lance Mindheims books. Thus I was attracted by the modern prototype and CSX Transportation.

On the FREMO-meeting my son ran switchers in the yard and an Alco RS-1 for the local jobs. My daughter loved running steam locos and waiting for the water to be refilled. So the new timeframe should be right in the transition era, late 1940s to mid 1950s. This allows running steam locomotives besides diesels.

To allow the use of the rolling stock and especially locomotives in a wide timeframe on FREMO meetings, it would be nice to use a railroad company that has not made large changes to its paint scheme. Additionally it would be nice to allow to operated it in interchanges with other railroads.

I did some research and looked for the available models for different railroad companies. I discussed the candidates with my kids and finally we settled on the Union Pacific Railroad. It fits my criteria. The paint scheme has not been changed radically and the UP operates in a large area and thus interchanges with a lot of other railroads in many locations. The kids like the colors. So here we go now.